The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast Ep. 326: Guest Michael Tomasello on the Evolution of Agency (Part One)
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Oct 2, 2023 
Michael Tomasello investigates the evolution of agency in animals and the behaviors that constitute agency. The podcast explores the concept of agency, normativity, and evolution. It also discusses social interaction and cooperation, levels of agency and metacognitive monitoring, the role of agency in evolution, and the influence of agency on constructing an objective world.
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Pragmatism And Cybernetics Influence
- Pragmatist and cybernetic ideas influenced Tomasello's control-system view of action and knowledge.
- Shared inquiry and practical consequences ground norms and objectivity in social processes.
Treat Norms As Collective Commitments
- Recognize normativity as arising from collective agency, not mere reciprocity or reputation.
- Treat individuals as simultaneously part of the we and the me to understand moral obligation.
Agency As Feedback Control
- Agency is best modeled as a feedback control system with a goal state, actions to change the world, and perception to monitor results.
- This organizational pattern, not substrate, defines intentional action across organisms.